Self-adjusting gate



April 27, 1954 J. B. OLSEN SELF-ADJUSTING GATE Filed Aug. '7. 1950Patented Apr. 27, 1954 UNITE Df- STATES Meer .i trice:

This'invention comprisesf'novel and useful-im-- provements invaself-adjusting gate and more specically pertains to an improved farmgate whichk shall' be readily adjustable asv to length' and inclination.

The primary object of this invention is to provide, an improved farmgate whose lengthmay be easily adjusted in order to adaptthe gate toaccommodate dilferent openingsV between gate posts-L, and in order tovary the. inclination of thev gate` toenable the bottomedge ofthe sametoconformv to.v the contour of the ground, or vary theopeningl betweenthelower edge of the gate andftherground as required.

AV still further object of the invention is, to provide an improvedgate.- ofV an exceedingly sturdy and-simplified construction, andprovided with a combined bracing and reinforcing member which alsoconstitutes means whereby the dimensions of the gate may be adjusted.

These, together with various ancillary features and objects of theinvention, which will later become apparent as the following descriptionproceeds, are attained by the present invention, a preferred embodimentof which has been illustrated by way of example, in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view showing a preferred embodiment offarm gate incorporating therein the principle of this invention, thesame being shown in a closed and normal position of adjustment in fulllines and in an alternative position of adjustment in dotted linestherein;

Figure 2 is a top 1; and,

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantiallyupon the plane indicated by the section line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Referring now more specically to the accompanying drawings, wherein likenumerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, it Willbe seen that the improved farm gate constructed in accordance with theprinciple of this invention is shown in operative position with respectto a pair of gate posts I and I2, the former constituting the post uponwhich the gate is hinged and being relatively longer than the latterpost, the former being further provided with L-shaped gate hinge pinsl4upon which the novel gate forming the subject of this` invention ishingedly mounted for horizontal swinging movement about the verticallyextending portions I6 of the hinge pins.

The gate itself consists of a plurality of vertiplan view of the gate ofFigure gate in various adjusted 1 Claim.. (Cl. 39e-22);

cally and' h'orizontallyf disposedY slats,l the'. hori zontal-slatsbeingindicated at i8, while thezvertical slats-are disposedlin pairson-opposite sides.

Obviously, anyJ demanner metallic received upon the'hinge pins i6. t

The end pair of vertical slats 24.1 extend up:- wardlyabove the othervertical slats and above theL1 top of the gate 'for the'purposeofproviding an anchorage for a combined reinforcing, brace ing andadjusting member to be hereinafter described.

An anchor pin 28 which is provided with a laterally extendingperpendicular arm portion 3U, is provided, this anchor pin beingslidingly and guidingly mounted upon the horizontal slats I8 at thelower corner of the gate and being retained thereon as by guide brackets32. A sup:- porting bracket 34 may be secured to one of the horizontalslats to provide a socket for seating the perdendicular portion 3U ofthe anchor pin to hold the same in its raised position. The anchor pinmay be selectively released from the socket 314 and then lowered throughits guides 32 to cause the pointed end of the anchor pin to be embeddedin the ground and thus hold the positions of opening.

The combined bracing, reinforcing and adjusting means consists of arigid member combined with a resilient member provided with adjustingmeans. The rigid member may conveniently comprise a pair of connectinglinks or rods 3B, one being disposed at each side of the gate, theserods having eye portions 38 at their lower ends which are connected asby a through bolt 40 to the end pair of vertically disposed slats 20 atthe bottom of the gate. At their upper ends, the connecting links 36 areprovided with other eyes 42 which receive the ends of the tension coilsprings 44 whose other ends are secured to eye bolts 46 which aremounted in a crossbar 48, the latter having a bracket 5D to which ispivotally connected one end of a turnbuckle 52 whose other end isconnected to a link or swivel 54 in turn pivoted to a through bolt 56extending between the upper ends of the end pair of vertical slats 24.Thus, the bracing means extends diagonally of pairs' of verticalfslatsmaybe.l hinged at the endfcf! the -gatethere are provided a pair ofrelatively1V longer channel. members 24 Ito-which are secured inanydesired sleeves- 25-whi`ch are hingecllyAv o! the gate and therebyreinforces and braces the same.

As will now be apparent, the turnbuckle may be so adjusted as to varythe tension force of the brace member and thereby in tum control therelative pivoting position of the vertical and horizontal slats, so thatthe gate may be disposed horizontally as shown in full lines in Figure1, or may be tnsioned into an inclined position either above thehorizontal as shown in dotted lines in Figure 1 or below the horizontaldepending upon the contour of the ground.

As will be apparent, the gate may normally be extended sufficient tocause the ends of the horizontal slats to engage against the fence postI2 and thereby prevent passage of the gate between the fence posts. Inorder to open the gate or swing the same past the post, it is obviouslymerely necessary to raise the unhinged end of the horizontal slats asuicient distance to cause the same to assume the dotted line positionshown in Figure 1, at which time the overall length of the gate will bereduced so that the same may pass inside of the post l2.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will bereadily understood and further explanation is believed to beunnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled-in the art after a consideration of theforegoingspeciication and accompanying drawings, it is not desired tolimit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, butall suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, fallingwithin the scope of the appended claim.

Having described the invention, whatis claimed as new is:

An adjustable gate comprising vertical and horizontal slats, thevertical slats being disposed in pairs on opposite sides of thehorizontal slats and pivoted thereto and including first and secondpairs of vertical slats at opposite ends of said gate, gate hingesmounted upon said first pair of vertical slats for mounting the gate forhorizontal swinging about a vertical axis, said first pair of verticalslats extending a material distance above the topmost horizontal slat, areinforcing and adjusting means connected adjacent the top of said firstpair of vertical slats and adjacent the bottom end of the second pair ofvertical slats, said means being operable to adjust the length of thegate and the inclination of the horizontal slats, said adjusting meansincluding a rigid member and a spring member attached to the rigidmember, said rigid member including a pair of rods mounted on oppositesides of said gate, a turnbucklasaid turnbuckle having one end pivotedto and between the top ends of saidrst pair of vertical slats, a crossplate pivoted to the other end of said turnbuckle, said spring beingconnected between the ends of said rods and said cross plate, saidsprings being pivoted to said cross plate.

References Cited in the file 0f this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 402,489 Sherman et al Apr. 30, 1889 1,052,665 Hester Feb. 11,1913 1,119,558 Whitworth Dec. 1, 1914 1,167,828 Landis Jan. ll, 19161,297,949 Werezak Mar. 18, 1919 2,346,110 MacKenzie Apr. 4, 19442,500,236 Anderson Mar. 14, 1950

